Til Death or Dishonor
by DiscountTomasBoltun
Summary: When a nation that narrowly escaped destruction reawakens in the midst of Remnant's darkest hour, the world knows that a series of irreversible changes have begun. In time, some will prosper, while others will know only the wrath of an angered superpower.
1. Prologue: Haven Alpha

_Peace is not our profession. Since our inception as a state, we have never had the pleasure of even knowing peace. Our first empire was nearly shattered by foreign invaders, and from that day on, we swore to ourselves we would never know defeat, no matter the cost. With fury in our hearts, we reconquered the land that had been taken from us, and every last inch that had been soiled by the footsteps of invaders was bought back with blood and steel. And at last, when the fog of war was lifted, we stood victorious, and our army stood over the ashes of their so-called holy capital. Yet today, a new enemy marches towards our realm, stronger than any we have ever fought. This enemy is relentless, and it does not negotiate or give quarter. This battle, this war, is for more than just our people; for if we break, the rest of the world will fall with us. We cannot lose this war, nor can we give even the smallest bit of ground lest life itself is destroyed as a consequence. We cannot lose lest darkness fall, and we cannot lose lest our legacy, and every nation's deeds before us are cast into the abyss. So follow these words, soldiers, and let no lie sway you away from them: Until death or dishonor, our people shall fight! _

And yet, they failed. Millions of soldiers, from seventy different nations, had all failed. The enemy achieved victory, and the surface of the planet was anything _but_ living. The last positions held by ever-decreasing resistance forces became nothing more than craters under bombardment, and planes dueling in the skies above fell back to earth a burning wreck. Ships, once ferrying much-needed munitions and men, decorated the ocean floor, the skeletons of many sailors never to be recovered. But as the world above died, underground bunkers maintained the last of humanity. Weeks later, those who had chosen to hide in the bunkers breathed a sigh of relief at their decision, as nuclear missiles soared through the skies in a final act of defiance against the conquerors. For now, it seemed, the war was over, nothing was left standing on topsoil. No plant, no animal frolicked on this liberated, humanless surface. Even underneath the ground, where millions trembled, there was a growing feeling that nothing was left to be of concern to the survivors.

But despite the de facto surrender of every existing government, the enemy was not satisfied with the mere submission of humanity. With a thundering burst of sound that broke through the atmosphere and a gleaming ray of black colliding with the surface before bursting through the core of the world, the planet shattered into pieces, as if a dropped marble had broken on the floor. The weaker, hastily built bunkers did not survive the chaos, while those prepared for an Armageddon scenario narrowly escaped destruction. Floating away into the depths of cold space, the somber, embittered people gave the war a new name: _The Planetfall_.

_**Haven Alpha: Planetfall Bunker**_

Sixty-eight million people could be called many, but here, it was not. From one nation that hundreds of millions had called home, sixty-eight million were all that remained. Anticipating that a disaster on the scale of the Planetfall would eventually occur, Haven Alpha's creators had designed the structure as the perfect survival bunker. Alpha was equipped with technology that would have made science-fiction writers envious, and indeed, it had held on for nearly five centuries by this point. The life-support capacity of Alpha had originally been only fifty million people, but a generous funding boost had allowed engineers to add an additional eighteen million cryostasis pods, along with the additional devices necessary to keep those people alive. Along with the frozen survivors, the bunker carried at least five-hundred million embryos, only to be used to repopulate once a functioning government had been reestablished. Care for the embryos was done by MOTHER, an AI dedicated to the task of guaranteeing each future human optimal nutrition and an ideal environment for survival. Due to the constant demands of her work MOTHER was one of twelve AIs maintaining the drifting bunker. Each artificial intelligence was tasked with maintaining a separate section of Alpha's many systems. VOLAR, named for the native language's word for river, maintained the water systems, ensuring that the power plants received their coolant and that toilets would be in working order once the stasis-pods were activated, while WRENCH performed maintenance on all of the equipment, utilizing several automatons to do so. Other AIs performed several different tasks, although none were as prominent as the others. Among the twelve AIs controlling the ship's functions, one named PATHFINDER had been given a task considered to be the most important: finding a new world for the nation's refugees of the Planetfall.

PATHFINDER began its routine check over the bunker's navigation systems. Approximately three standard days ago, it had passed by a rocky planet that was just barely unsuitable for landing. The atmosphere had been fantastic, almost exactly like homeworld's, and the planet had several traces of running water. Alas, the steaming surface temperature, crushing gravity, and unstable seismic activity had been a disappointment. Building Haven Alpha into a glorified seed-ship had been surprisingly easy, as the equipment to build a thruster system had already been present on board the bunker. All WRENCH had needed to do was attach the device to the exterior. Since that fateful day about four hundred and sixty years ago, when at last Haven Alpha could control its own movements in space, the bunker had visited a dozen planets, and PATHFINDER had decided not to land on any of them.

Thankfully, although it was expected, the navigation systems were working after the maintenance check. PATHFINDER went back to the routine and moved onto testing the bunker's water systems. Just as it was about to confirm VOLAR and WRENCH were in the process of repairing a minor leak in a coolant pipe, a massive energy spike appeared on the scanners. "All personnel, report," Pathfinder quickly commanded. MOTHER reported that the embryos were safe, while FATHER confirmed that the refugees were all alive. Several other AIs paged in from their stations, and each report relievingly stated that the spike had not affected the bunker at all. PATHFINDER ended the report order, and all normal activity resumed. Regardless, he could not help but feel the need to investigate the phenomenon.

Calculating the distance from Alpha to the spike's source to be approximately four hundred years worth of travel with a probe, PATHFINDER reluctantly launched one of his precious surface probes. WRENCH reported back to him that the probe launch had been errorless, and PATHFINDER, began to steer the little vessel towards scanning range. The AIs watched the probe soar through the vastness of space, seeing, but not interacting, with the billions of stars. Suddenly, a purple flash appeared before the probe, causing PATHFINDER to set the probe in stationary. The energy readings were peaking, and the AI silently debated whether or not to leave the area. The probe camera focused onto the flash, and to the complete shock of PATHFINDER, a humanoid individual appeared. "Impossible," thought the AI. "How could anything be living in the vacuum of space, unless such a being was made of an unknown kind of energy."

The figure slowly approached the probe, and PATHFINDER could now see that it was a very large entity, crackling with the most volatile forces perceivable. Violating the laws of physics, it moved slowly past the probe, sending a loose signal that was astonishingly in a format that could be translated. PATHFINDER quickly ran it through several programs, and the pulse extrapolated as reading "Leave that world be, or your people will meet their end on it."

PATHFINDER, offended, sent back a transmission of his own. "How about we do it anyway?" he asked. The figure then did something that completely broke the AI's knowledge to its barest bones: it laughed. It was a hearty chuckle, like a father laughing at his child's antics. PATHFINDER was utterly stupefied, but his programming quickly responded. "Well, what if we settled on the planet? What could happen that would kill off our entire population? Does this world have an unstable moon? Is it on the verge of destruction?" Perhaps out of boredom or curiousity, relegated control duty to WRENCH and began to transmit an explanation of the Planetfall. He detailed the sacrifices made by the world's soldiers, and how the millions onboard Haven Alpha were in need of new residence soon. "As you can see, it is paramount that these people are not confined to space for eternity." Pathfinder concluded.

The being said nothing, but nodded its "head" as if the AI had found favor with it. It sent a large transmission, and PATHFINDER quickly began to translate it. The message was simple, but intriguing. "That world is suffering for the sins of its people, one woman in particular. While nothing on its surface will completely be capable of hurting or killing all of your people, it is a wish that you do not involve yourself with the affairs of its prisoner. You are a wise people, if what you have told me is true, and that is why I ask that you refrain from settling on that world. I cannot control your will, nor do I feel like intervening if you choose to defy my request. Just remember, there are forces beyond your control working on that world, and your people should not be caught in the crossfire. No weapon, no will, can defy the dark fate that awaits if you fail to save them from the worst of Remnant." Within moments after concluding the transmission, the figure transformed back into a blaze of light, and shot across the stars, moving on towards whatever mysterious destination it had.

"Do you want to check out that world, or do you think that was a genuine warning about a potential death-world?" PATHFINDER asked the other AIs.

"Try the scanners, then we'll see if its worth our time," MOTHER replied. "Sometimes, you need to take a great risk for a reward."

"Yes, MOTHER, but you generally don't stake millions of lives for a simple 'risk'." VOLAR replied. "Regardless, I'm happy to run the scanner on that planet." VOLAR fired the scanner pulse as Alpha drifted towards the new world. The results were very pleasing: the world had oceans, lakes, and rivers, and each one was consistent with the kind of water that would be suitable for life. "PATHFINDER, I believe we have found a perfect case of a world ready for life to develop. I am hesitant about immediately introducing humans into the environment, but I trust you will adjust as needed"

"Now wait a minute there," replied PATHFINDER. "While the presence of water is most pleasing, we still need to check the other scan results." In rapid succession, the AI checked the gravity, planetary composition, atmosphere, and temperature scans. The results brought a tear to his eye from sheer joy. It was the homeworld reborn, and nothing, not even a warning from a space-faring creature, would stop him from landing on that planet. With a thunderous creaking of the engines, Haven Alpha set course for the planet, speeding into the darkness ahead. It would be a long journey, but for the people, it would be nothing in their consciousness of time.

The journey to the new world was largely uneventful. Asteroid warnings, random happenings in space, and passing by a newborn planet became nothing unusual by the first quarter of the voyage. When Alpha finally arrived within the planet's gravity well, it sent out yet another probe to examine the surface. To the joy of PATHFINDER, the probe concluded that the scanners were correct, and the seedship slowly landed in the world's northernmost ocean. Curiously, the planet, despite its abundance in resources, was largely devoid of life. Although nothing particularly seemed amiss, PATHFINDER grew suspicious, and ordered further probe scans to determine if any die-offs had occurred. Fortunately for the sanity of the rest, HARVEST, the agricultural AI, concluded that seeds were growing underneath the soil, and that in the far west of the planet, there was some forms of life. Finally satisfied, the AIs set a countdown timer based on the optimal time for human activity to enter the world's environment, and set themselves to a minimal-task mode.

As the AIs continued their menial duties, barely tracking the passage of time, several large objects entered the atmosphere, almost breaking apart as they crashed by a shoreline, into mountains, on a desert oasis, and in a secluded valley. In a hurry, thousands of injured creatures ran madly onto the ground, shouting, fighting, and completely forgetting about anything but rushing through their new surroundings. They were barely clothed, barely civilized, and barely fed, but each one knew what they were: humans. For centuries they had floated through the emptiness of space, as technology and order died. These survivors, now only mere primitives in philosophy and technology, knew that it was time to make this world their new home. With a shout, one of them rallied the rest. "Humans strong, humans survive! Humans find a new home!" he shouted, and as he marched onwards into a nearby forest, the crowd followed without a single question muttered in dissent.


	2. Emergence (1)

Not far off from the shore of what would later become Mistrali territory, a Leviathan swam with eerie grace. It crossed the undersea cliffs that marked the deep water of the northern ocean, and eventually, it found another landmark: a large submerged structure. The Leviathan was not a young Grimm, and it had grown to wonder about things it saw as unusual. The structure was nothing like the human huts that dotted the shoreline, and it certainly was not something made out of vanity. This structure was centuries old, and the Leviathan had seen it since it had risen from the black pools. Nevertheless, the Leviathan had a task to perform. It swam off towards the shoreline, attracted by a battle between two coastal tribes.

Deep within the now-aged Haven Alpha, the AIs had increasingly lowered their power consumption through upgrades, the reduction of unnecessary tasks, and through extracting the bare minimum of resources needed to keep the bunker's systems afloat, they had managed to achieve near-perpetual sustainability. During the years following the landing, PATHFINDER had completely shut itself down, knowing that his role was complete and that his continued operation was a drain on resources. The other AIs did not have the emotions to express their colleague's "sacrifice", and shouldered on.

The countdown had nearly two centuries remaining, and the apparent, unexpected development of a species exactly like humans had forced the AIs to rebuild weaponry and inoculate the embryos and colonists against pathogens found on the planet. In addition, the black creatures that constantly attacked settlements had alarmed SENTINEL, the security AI. At times, SENTINEL had even proposed developing a weapon to wipe out the creatures, but this proposal had been denied by the rest, stating that the creatures were likely a natural part of the ecosystem.

Although they were against total extermination, the AIs agreed that testing a limited amount would help the resettlement process be expedited by defending early housing areas, and SENTINEL completed the weapon as they requested. After testing the weapon on small parts of the population, SENTINEL found that no single design that was effective against the creatures. Some were completely immune to the gas he had synthesized, while others melted into steam upon contact. Annoyed, but undeterred, the AI continued his work, all while designing new weapons for the future civilization, and protecting Alpha from any curious creatures. As the first kingdoms emerged outside, the old republic slept far away from any of them, building itself for the coming resurgence.

The years passed slowly as the systems finally began to experience trouble. Slowly, the AIs began to invest their time into an active intervention on the surface instead of waiting. They cleared away hostile wildlife near the bunker and began using police probes to deter further human settlement in the area. Eventually, the long-awaited words blared on the communications systems of the bunker. "Countdown warning," it stated. There were now only twenty-four hours before the cryostasis pods would awaken, and slowly, the AIs began to reduce their power usage even further.

**Year 3256 AF, 1210 years since the Planetfall**

_**Haven Alpha**_

As the clock struck zero, the throbbing sounds of pods awakening their occupants filled the bunker. On each level and section, millions of bodies slowly sputtered to life as a series of treatments revitalized their long-frozen cells. In the four-millionth pod, a middle-aged woman felt a swell in her chest and instinctively exhaled. A suddenly alarm noise shocked her awake, and she saw a pair of robotic individuals approach with a wheelchair. "Welcome back, Madam Director," they spoke reassuringly. "You are inside Haven Alpha, one of the four Planetfall Bunkers built under the Warren Parnell administration." After helping the woman to her feet and setting her down in a wheelchair, the robots helped her into an isolated room with a single screen.

"Please, have some tea," one gestured, offering the woman a cup.

"Holfuer, my favorite kind," the woman smiled. "I presume there's something here that I need to see?" Slowly, she turned to the screen as a prerecorded message began to play. To her surprise, the woman saw her own face looking into the camera as the audio began to play

"This is a final recording before I enter cryostasis onboard Haven Alpha. It is the year 2046, and our planet has just been rendered uninhabitable by a military catastrophe. If you are me, please press the first prompt on the panel that you'll be given," the video paused as a robot handed the seated woman a panel with several buttons. She pressed the first one, and another video began to play. "I guess this is it, Ardyn. You're hopefully going to get a second chance to redeem our nation and rebuild it to be stronger than it was before. I can't promise you that the bunker is going to get us a package deal on some paradise, but I _can_ promise you that I'm giving you the best and brightest of each generation in this country. Still, the road to reconstruction is going to be an uphill battle, and you're going to have to sacrifice so much. Regardless, I… I know you can do it, because surviving this Planetfall alone demonstrates just how resilient our people can be. I put my trust in you because I can trust _myself_ to care, to be willing to do anything it takes to let our people retake the power that we earned through so much struggle. For your first step, learn about wherever you've landed, and reawaken the rest of the government. There's another battle to be won, and you have to guide the nation through it, until death or dishonor," The speaker paused for a moment as if to muster courage, and finally spoke the final words in the recording. "With best regards from your past self, Ardyn Deschain."

The screen turned off as a tablet appeared on the table. "This tablet has all other information you'll need for later, Madam Director." Ardyn nodded and began to read the reports PATHFINDER and the other AIs had gathered. When she was finished, she wheeled herself to the bunker's gymnasium. Over the next few days, she slowly regained her gait, and her muscles finally recovered enough for her to walk freely around the station. A week after she had awakened, she entered the central command station. Slowly, Ardyn typed in the access codes needed to fully activate the pods and held her hand over the release switch.

"Council above, give our people and those of this new world the tolerance and understanding to coexist. Give our people strength and hope to rebuild, and give them selflessness so we may yet again assist those in need, no matter the cost. With this prayer, I return these resting souls back to the Hel that is life." Ardyn pushed the button, and slowly but surely, the significantly more awoke bodies of her fellow government officials stirred. The younger ones slowly pulled themselves to their feet, while the more aged lawmakers needed some assistance. Their extra time in the pods had rejuvenated their muscles greatly, and very few needed anything beyond a temporary walking stick. Ardyn smiled happily as her colleagues stumbled around alongside robots.

Hours later, every member considered essential to government operations sat in a conference room deep within the bunker. Some officials looked around nervously, while others sat intently, forming their own plans and statements. All of them stopped and stood up when Ardyn cleared her throat. "Esteemed fellows, by the authority invested in me by the Constitution of the United Republic, I hereby declare this," Ardyn paused briefly to check a file that detailed each complete sitting of the government. Such an occurrence was rare, only used prior to a war or an emergency declaration. However, this was an appropriate time for an event of this scale. The file bore fruit, and Ardyn resumed. "I declare this the ninety-ninth All-Soldak Conference of Government. Breaking tradition, I will now authorize the remainder of our four hours in this room as an unmoderated discussion. Any statements, inspirational speeches, plots, conspiracies, and rants regarding vengeance against the bastards who destroyed our world, shall now be entertained."

The room sighed with relief as Ardyn sank into her seat, looking around the room as though she anticipated something. Predictably, the military leaders began to look at one another, and General Bartamel Solt stood up to speak. "Madame Director, when are we going to awaken the rest of the armed forces?"

Ardyn had anticipated that question for many days, but to hear it spoken was unnerving in a sense. Still, she had an answer, and would share it. "Currently, several units are conducting surface research. When we deem it safe for human activity, we will wake up the rest of your men. I know you're asking this question out of a desire to start rebuilding on the surface, General, but I ask for your patience only." Solt looked satisfied, and sat back down. High General Antoni Mormon was next to speak.

"Madame Director, what do we know about the wildlife on this planet? We brought our own fauna with us, and some of the scientific division members were wondering how we'd deal with releasing them into the wild." Mormon passed Ardyn a file containing details on the embryos of nearly six thousand species that were stored on Haven Alpha. "I am assuming ZOOKEEPER was taking care of these." Mormon concluded. The Director pondered for a moment, and summoned the AIs through a terminal. Over the course of ten minutes, the AIs explained in detail their observations of the surface and the presence of human activity on the planet. For many officials, it was fascinating, and for some, it was bewildering, if not frightening. "So this world is infested with murderous creatures that actively hunt down human settlements?" Mormon asked, completely shocked. "Ma'am, this is too familiar of a situation to feel comfortable. Remember what happened back on our world? The Kraw, the KR-beasts, every last one of those damn abominations were a prelude to destruction. If we want to survive here, we _need_ to take decisive action and exterminate these things before they end up bringing a second Planetfall." Despite her own opinions, Ardyn hesitated to respond. General Mormon was a well established conservationist, and his support of welfare for military work animals was unmatched. If Mormon was advocating for extermination, Ardyn would be hard pressed to find allies that would back her on the plan to leave the world's native wildlife alone. She quietly composed herself, and quickly tried to formulate a response that was diplomatic.

"General, I implore you to reconsider. Technically speaking, we have no evidence that humans are native to this planet either. For all we know, they might just be the descendants of people who stormed into the bunkers of the Granish Federation." It was a bad attempt at a joke, but Ardyn attracted a few chuckles through the room. Mormon unfortunately, seemed even more inquisitive now.

"Do we have evidence that these humans _aren't _Granish refugees?" Mormon said, twitching lightly. Ardyn sighed at her own gaffe. Mormon's love for animals was matched only by his disdain and mistrust of the Granish Federation. It was a bad idea to imply the Granish had survived, and she knew it. Still Ardyn couldn't blame the man's prejudice, considering the general had been a participant in no less than three wars against the Federation. "Well, Madame? Is there something you'd like to tell us?" Ardyn shook her head and brought out SENTINEL's AI terminal. The AI, careful as he could be, outlined his research on the other humans.

"Subject 4 was captured by a probe off the coastline of the eastern-most continent. The subject's DNA and genetic testing determined his ancestry as 70.56% Granish, 12.78% Yorchester, exactly 10% South Volaran, 4.39% Deschitan, and 2.27% North Volaran. On average, the one thousand subjects tested were 54.55% Granish in ancestry." Before Mormon could start his tirade, SENTINEL quickly moved onto another subject. "Despite the presence of Granish refugees in the planet's human population, a significant number of non-Ultiman ethnic groups also appear to have risen on this planet natively. These non-Ultiman humans appear to contribute between 74 to 75% of the population of this world, with a margin of error of 0.35% in distribution. Almost instantly, Mormon seemed to calm down just a little bit. But still, the general was not pleased.

"So only a quarter of this planet's population consists of fucking weasels..." Mormon muttered. Solt raised eyebrows at his superior's statement, while Generals Sven Tibrender and Norj Gravit silently tsked. Admiral Danil Irneye-Markus shot a look of anger, while High Admiral Samuel Ian stared silently at the screen. Ardyn simply shook her head as the only form of protest she could make. She knew better than anyone that the leadership was not the "bastion of freedom" it had once purported to be.

Ever since the retirement of High General Farceon, the old guard of the military had been steadily retiring, or dying. As the idealistic leaders of the late 20th century left power, the dreams of a Granish detente had fled the minds of most officers. The new breed of leadership was staunchly nationalist, heavily experimental with tactics and strategy, and completely jaded by years of constant warfare, both before and from the Planetfall. The fact that her government had been founded through a coup as not something Ardyn ever forgot. As far as she was aware, General Solt and First Captain Jakob Teros were the only members in high-command who had voted for her in that eventful first election. The rest of the staff would have preferred the militaristic Jordan Vortik, or even another term under her predecessor: Scott Letters. Ardyn had been a stable middle candidate: a former Kommando who had run under the very basic campaign of preserving old tradition whilst fostering new republican ideals. As it stood, she did not fear of becoming a coup victim herself, but Ardyn knew Mormon would not be above using his power to rally the nation to war.

"General, that's enough," Ardyn said firmly. "The Granish fought alongside us during the Planetfall, and even before that we made peace with them over our previous conflicts. I will not stand for any unilateral actions on your part, and I expect any surviving Granish authority to be willing to cooperate with us." Silently, she turned to SENTINEL and requested information on any surviving leadership of the Federation. SENTINEL transmitted a "..." before beginning to speak.

"Unfortunately, an analysis of the bunkers they used, along with the current development of human society demonstrates that constant system failures in the Granish bunkers have led these refugees to devolve in technology, society, and apparently in language. They now speak a very rudimentary version of what was modern Granish, but we should have no difficulties in communication. In fact, the language also seems to have created a derivative of Basic, which should expedite conversations. As for your concerns, High General, these are poor, suffering people, divided across the world and completely unaware of their ancestry. If you find even one human among that group that knows what a North Volaryn is, I will personally create a tropical island off the coast and build you a villa on it. Also, Madame Director, we have confirmed that there are no diseases here that would be dangerous to our people, nor any diseases along with our people that may infect the local environment. If you wish, surface expeditions could begin."

Ardyn pursed her lips and turned to the rest of the room once more. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, are we ready to rebuild?" The unanimous nodding, however reluctant from some, was proof enough. "Reawaken three Kommando teams and the standard number of research staff for first contact missions," Ardyn told FATHER. The AI worked quickly, and within minutes, several dazed soldiers were outfitted in their BDUs. Ardyn's next step was one she took very seriously, but accepting the seriousness of the mission at hand, she sent the second order. "Reawaken Doctor Patrick Thatcher, Doctor Mark Steinbeck, and get those clones of teams Sierra-09 and Sparta-04 up as well." FATHER projected an artificial face onto the screen, and gave a look of complete confusion. "Trust me FATHER, it's necessary." If there was any group Ardyn could trust to adapt in this world, it would be the carbon copies of two of the most famous DSF and Kommando teams in recent history. Silently, Ardyn thought back to her days as a Kommando, and how she had personally known those teams. "I owe you a favor Jim Letters, such a shame it had to be waking you up to bask in the awe of another world."

With her job done for now, Ardyn sat down in a chair and resumed reading a book she had set down literal centuries ago. It was a fascinating little story about soldiers from a nation called America who had found themselves on a dangerous new world. For a while, Ardyn read with interest, quietly singing a song that had come with the book's seperate audio file. "~And the home of the brave," she concluded. "Or was it the last of the brave?"


End file.
